ABSTRACT
The objectives of this study were to fit different mathematical models to experimental data of drying of sunflower grains, determine and evaluate the effective diffusion coefficient and obtain the activation energy for the process during the drying under various conditions of air. The sunflower grains were collected with an initial moisture content of 0.5267 dry basis (d.b.) and dried in an oven with forced air ventilation under five temperature conditions: 35, 50, 65, 80 and 95 °C, until reaching the moisture content of 0.0934 ± 0.0061 (d.b.). Among the analyzed models, Wang and Singh showed the best fit to describe the drying phenomenon. The effective diffusion coefficient of sunflower grains increased with the increment in air temperature and has activation energy for liquid diffusion in the sunflower drying of 29.55 kJ mol-1.
Key words:
mathematical modeling; Heliantus annus; liquid diffusivity